AMMAN — The United Nations is counting on Jordan to support the rights, empowerment, peace and security for women in different parts of the world.

Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, told Petra that the UN body aims to further strengthen and deepen its partnership with the Jordanian National Commission to advance women’s rights, empowerment and gender equality, as well as securing the rights of marginalized groups of women and girls from refugee families.

She also highlighted Jordan's commitment to ending violence against women and joining the UN Women’s COMMIT Initiative to end violence against women and girls, as well as the government’s measures to further advance women’s rights, leadership and political participation in its recent legislative reforms.

Mlambo-Ngcuka called on the government to undertake further legislative reforms to improve the family laws and legal response to violence against women, specifically the abolishment of article 308 of the Penal Code that allows perpetrators to be pardoned if they marry the victim and stay with them for five years. (Petra)